The Day I Met Luna Lovegood
by Mokusan
Summary: The day Fred Weasley meets Luna Lovegood face to face is a day he'll never forget. (Fred' POV; One-shot; Written for Nyx of Chaos' 'The Day I Met Luna Lovegood' challenge).


**Disclaimer: I own nadda. What were you expecting? Jo?**

**A/N: This was a fic written in response toNyxof Chaos''The Day I met Luna Lovegood' challenge:**

**Summary of Rules for the Challenge: These are the following rules:-  
1. Must be a canon character from the book excluding the trio.  
2. Must be from that character's POV.  
3. Must include some (at least four or five) of the following items  
-tomatoes  
-scissors  
- a dream journal  
- a telescope  
- bottles of butterbeer  
-a cat  
- the Daily Prophet  
- opera glasses  
- stake  
-a fork in shape of a bracelet  
-Gobstones**

**This is in Fred Weasley's POV. Enjoy. :)**

**Edit #1: Fixed a bit in the challenge info.**

**Edit #2: Fixed a few words and sentances I forgot to do the first and 2nd time around. :)**

* * *

The day I met Luna Lovegood I was sitting on a bench in the courtyard minding my own business, thank you very much. There was nothing about me that should have attracted Luna to speak to me, or even stray near. I looked like any normal student, despite the fact my hair clashed heavily with my red and gold scarf, and I was unusually twinless at the time. The only weird thing was my freckles, which were currently flashing multiple neon colors. But even that wasn't strange for me. 

It was snowing when I first spotted the young Ravenclaw. She was Ginny's age, I knew that much, and most people couldn't figure out why she was in Ravenclaw of all places. Most thought she should be in Hufflepuff instead. Anyway, she wasn't someone I ordinarily talked to. Actually, I never had, but that's not the point. At first I thought she was just passing by like several other students had done, tramping through the falling snow. But then she stopped. In front of me. I really didn't know what to do.

I had heard of Luna before while eavesdropping on the Golden Trio, or whatever people called them these days. But now that I could see her up close, she was different than I expected. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a loose bun planted on her head, while her wide, blue eyes stared at me as if I was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen. I have to say, though, she had good taste. Her wand was tucked over her ear like muggles do with pencils, and her scarf and tie were lopsided around her neck, her house badge crooked on her black robes. She had a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ in one hand, a fork bent into a bracelet on her wrist.

When I said up close, I wasn't kidding, either. I mean _close_. To anyone watching it probably looked like we were about to kiss. I silently prayed no one was watching; talk about losing my rep. "Hello," she said quietly, still staring at me with her wide eyes which were starting to creep me out just a little.

I blinked.

"Erm...Hi?" I replied, arching a brow.

"You're Fred, aren't you?" She said, more of a statement than a question.

"No, I'm George," I answered with out skipping a beat. I had become used to this.

"You're lying," she said after a moments pause. I could only stare at her, and I swear my jaw must have dropped an inch. How did she _know_ that? No one knew that! _No one_!

"No I'm-"

"I don't like it when people lie." She stopped staring at me in the face, and decided to sit down beside me on the bench. How lovely. I've always wanted to sit next to a completely stranger at school, on a bench, while it was snowing. Really.

"Er..."

"Do you believe in the Crumple-Horned Snorkack?" Luna asked out of the blue. I blinked, trying to figure out what she had said.

"Er..."

"Becuase they're real, you know. Sort of like tomatoes, only they aren't red and squishy, and not as common. And you're not supposed to eat them. They're endangered, after all, and I imagine they don't taste good."

"...Right." At least she wasn't so... blah, like most people tended to be. And I knew she could take a good joke, because she had been subject of George and I's pranks more than once. A cat I recognized briefly as Crookshanks shot from the bushes, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Luna didn't, however, and instead watched him with an amused expression.

"Cats are intelligent animals," she commented. "I imagine that's why Professor McGonagall is a cat in animagus form." She had a good point, as much as I hated to admit it.

"That makes sense," I said, watching her curiously as she pulled a small notebook from her pocket. "What's that?"

"My dream journal," she replied quietly as she began scribbling away. "This might be a dream, so I want to write it down before I forget." I wanted to tell her that if this was a dream, that wouldn't be there when she woke up, and that this probably wasn't a dream, because I was pretty sure _I_ wasn't dreaming. But something stopped me.

"So... You take divination, eh?" I asked instead, watching her jot down about our meeting so far. At first, I couldn't figure out what she was writing; looked like a bunch of jibberish to me. Then I realized she was writing backwards.

"Yes," she answered. "But I don't think it works very well. I feel sorry for Professor Trelawny, but she isn't very convincing."

"No, she isn't," I agreed. Luna was definantly one of a kind.

"You know... Dreams are rather interesting," she added. "'All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.'" That actually made sense, somehow.

"Interesting...," I said offhandedly. There was one of those moments when no one could come up with something clever to say. I hate those kind of moments.

"I'm not weird, by the way. Just different."

"...I didn't-" I stopped myself. She had a way of knowing when you were lying. I looked over at the bush Crookshanks had emerged from, hoping that something would come out and give me something to say. I hated awkward silences. I looked back to Luna, and opened my mouth to speak. But she wasn't there.

"Fred..." But there was her voice...

"Fred..." It sounded oddly like Lee now...

"Fred!" Now it sounded like George-

"Gah! What?" I cried, looking around. Lee, Alicia, and George were all looking down at me. I sat up, and realized I was on the ground beside the bench. "How did I get on the ground?"

"Fred, you fell asleep on the ground an hour ago," Alicia said. "We came back to get you at long last." I stood, a bit confused, and brushed myself off.

"What about Luna?" I asked, running after them.

"What about her?" George asked, arching a brow. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. I looked back out across the ground, but didn't see anyone. Had I really dreamed that whole thing? I wasn't so sure of my sanity all of a sudden. We walked into the Great Hall and sat in our usual seats. Eventually there was a pile of food on my plate, and I began shoving it into my mouth by the forkful as usual. They didn't call me the Human Garabage Disposal for nothing.

I spotted Luna as I looked around the hall, and for a moment just stared at her. She looked up from her copy of the _Quibbler_ and spotted me. And then she smiled a knowing smile. You know, the ones that youwear in a room full of people, where just you and someone else share a little secret. One of those smiles.I found myself grinning back, before George caught my attention.

"Oy, Fred!" He called, waving a hand in front of my face. "C'mon mate. Lee's got something to show us."

"I'm coming," I said, grabbing a roll and heading after them. I gave one last glance back at Luna before exiting the Great Hall.

The day I met Luna Lovegood I was sitting on a bench in the courtyard minding my own business, thank you very much. There was nothing about me that should have attracted Luna to speak to me, or even stray near. But there was. And surprisingly, I'm awfully glad there was. I don't call her Loony Lovegood, and I somehow convinced most of my friends not to, either.

I still wonder if our meeting is in her dream journal... Or if I was the one dreaming after all.


End file.
